Animal rights activists protest octopus farm plans in Spain Premium
The Hindu
Animal rights activists gathered on Sunday in Madrid to protest plans for an octopus farm in Spain, saying there are no respective laws in the country and the European Union to guarantee the welfare of the animals in captivity.
Animal rights activists gathered on Sunday in Madrid to protest plans for an octopus farm in Spain, saying there are no respective laws in the country and the European Union to guarantee the welfare of the animals in captivity.
The proposed farm, which aims to breed octopuses on a large scale in captivity, is scheduled to be built next year in the Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, at a cost of $74 million.
A few dozen people showed up to express their concerns regarding a project that plans to confine three million octopuses in pools, despite these creatures being solitary predators in the wild.
Jaime Posada, a spokesperson for the protest called by various animal welfare organisations, said the octopus would “attempt to escape due to their high intelligence and adeptness”.
Octopuses grown in captivity will behave differently from those in the wild, said Nova Pescanova, the seafood company promoting this farm.
Since 2018, the company has run a pilot project in a research facility in northern Spain, where it has successfully bred five captivity-born octopus generations.
“It is not possible to grow any (animal) species in the European Union without respecting their welfare conditions. It is the standard, and our group does nothing but comply with guidelines and legislations,” said Roberto Romero, the multinational’s aquaculture director.
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